Utrecht Bucket List

When I left my previous job, one of my leaving gifts was a guidebook, Utrecht: Sights and Secrets of Holland's Smartest City by Annika Redhed. It's a wonderful book, written by a local, which offers a wry a delightful overview of some of the best sights and experiences of the city. I highly recommend buying or borrowing a copy to anyone who is planning a visit here.

 

When I started reading my copy, I added a page flag every time I found something I would like to experience or explore. Four months later, when I finished, my copy bristled with colourful slips of paper! Here is my list of all the things I flagged. Many thanks to my lovely University of Lincoln library colleagues for their marvelous gift. 

An excellent guidebook

 

Anything in bold is something I have explored in my first five months here and would personally recommend to tourists or visitors.

Breweries, Cafes, and Restaurants

• Bakkerij Bond en Smolders (for Domtoren-shaped cookies) 
• Belgisch Beer Café Olivier Utrecht, which is hidden in a secret church
• cafe in the back of the Domkirk (p. 18)
• De Kaasbar, for the opportunity to try many different kinds of cheese
  
• Le Jardin, because it has a greenhouse and menu featuring lots of vegetables
  
• Maximus Brouwerij, a brewery in the Máximapark which looks very nice.
  
• Pannenkoekenbakkerij De Muntkelder, to try lots of different kinds of pancakes
• Restaurant De Watertoren, because it is in a former water tower with nice views
• Winkel van Sinkel, where it is apparently possible to "knit in the company of other knitters" (pp. 37-8); it seems mostly to be a cafe, restaurant, and event space now.
  

Churches

• Domtoren (and all its souveniers, including candles and cake molds). 
• Domkirk. Especially recommended on a Saturday afternoon, when there are lovely free concerts. The Night of Light is also incredibly beautiful.
  
• Sint Willibrordkerk (because it's a fancy nineteenth century church, and they can be fun to see)
  

Eating

• fresh stroopwafels
  

Events 

• city tours in English, Saturdays and Sundays at noon, starting underneath the Domtoren
• ice skating rink in De Neude, which appears before Christmas (p. 98)
• Open tuinen dag--will be Saturday, 29 June 2024. A day when a day pass gets access to private gardens in the city centre.
  
• Sint Maarten--events include a market the weekend before the saint's festival (11 November), a parade, and singing
• Singelloop, a 10k run. Took place on 1 October in 2023
  
• Trajectum Lumen, a tour of all the light art in Utrecht, taking place on Saturday evenings; seems to end in March of this year; there is also an app for self-guided tours
• Utrecht Marathon, 19 May 2024
  

Markets

•  Lapjesmarkt, for fabric, buttons, and sewing stuff; Breedstraat (Saturday mornings)
  
• Vredenburg Square, for food (Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday)

Museums

• Hoge Woerd, an archaeological museum, including a rebuilt Roman fortress with a very old boat on display
  
  Museum Catharijneconvent, and its collection of medieval and religious art
  
• Museum Speelkok, the museum of music boxes and self-playing instruments
  

Parks and Gardens

• Botanic Gardens, Uithof, The branch near the University is lovely and easily reachable by bus or bike. It has a wonderful cafe that is a lovely place to sit on a sunny day. Its city-centre branch near the University Museum sounds lovely too, but I haven't been there yet.
  
• City Garden, which can be entered via a blue gate on Springstraat (pp. 102-3)
  
• Landgoed Amelisweerd en Rhijnauwen, Finding lovely spaces to be outside is important in a city, and this one looks lovely
  
• Maarseveense, another park that sounds very lovely
  
• Máximapark, a large and beautiful park in the outer city, easily accessible from the centre by bus. This where the Utrecht parkrun takes place every Saturday morning.
  

Sightseeing

• Achter Sint Pieter, where there is a seventeenth century house with a doorbell in the shape of a pretzel, built by Everard Meyster
  
• Bakkerbrug, a bridge with decorated street lanterns and flower stalls
• Bartholomeus Gasthuis, a medieval foundation which became a home for the elderly; guided tours are offered on Sunday mornings (p. 103)
  
• Molen de Ster, a rebuilt historic wind-powered sawmill
• Paushuize, the palatial house of the only Dutch pope, who never got to live in it (some of the rooms are, according to the guidebook, open for tours on Saturdays, pp. 86-7)

To Stay

• B&B Gregorius, which is very central and along a lovely canal
  
• Court Hotel Utrecht Centrum; I stayed here for my job interview and can confirm it is very nice.
  
• Hotel Beijers, which looks lovely on the outside.
  
• Klein Armelisweerd (a campground--the description is the guidebook is a very good example of Dutch humour but I would not personally stay there.)
  
• Stayokay Hostel; it is very central and looks fine.

Further Reading

• Secrets of Utrecht Facebook page (seems to have stopped updating regularly in 2020)
• The back of the book contains useful Dutch vocabulary for tourists. Ik heb en kikker ingeslikt somehow slipped into the vocabulary list, which is excellent, and reminds me of the fact that the first Spanish phrase one of my postgrad housemates taught us was how to say "my hovercraft is full of eels". You never know when you'll need to prepare absurdities to meet the absurd?

Who I'm Rooting for at the US Olympic Team Trials Marathon

Today is a very special day for fans of American distance running--3 February is the day of the US Olympic Team Trials Marathon, a race which earns the top three finishers in the women's category and (probably) the top three finishers in the men's category a place on Team USA. To be in the race at all, women had to run a 2:37 marathon or a 1:12 half marathon; men needed a 2:18 marathon or a 1:03 half marathon.

Even though the ability to run these times is far, far, far out of my own experience or capacity, I draw a lot of inspiration from athletes who demonstrate persistence and longevity in the sport. While I wish everyone on the start line good health and good luck, here are some of the people I am particularly hoping have great races in Orlando!

Abdihakim 'Abdi' Abdirahman

There is a nonzero chance that this legendary runner will beat people who weren't able to walk in the year 2000, which was when he made his first appearance at the Olympic Games. He has made five (5!) straight Olympic Teams, in the 10,000 metres and marathon, and it is incredible to see him contending for a sixth.

 

Aliphine Tuliamuk 

Winner of the 2020 US Olympic Team Trials marathon, expert crocheter, mother of a three-year-old, and seemingly all-around good egg. Media coverage of her Trials victory was pretty bad and I really admire the grace and articulateness with which Tuliamuk has spoken up about the need for coverage to get better. Also, if you listen to running podcasts, her interviews are always really fun.

 

Ari Hendrix-Roach

Stories of people who dramatically lower their marathon times are always inspiring to me; the emphasis and care Ari Hendrix-Roach places on representing African-American and queer runners makes me admire her even more. Plus, she's a twin and she has a dog named Casanova.

Betsy Saina

While I haven't been following her career for very long, I loved listening to the interview she did on the Keeping Track podcast back at the beginning 2023. Saina has one of the fastest personal records of all the athletes in the women's field, and even though I don't have kids myself, seeing parents, especially parents of young children, excel at running is really inspiring to me.

 

Des Linden

She lives up to the motto "Keep Showing Up", she has one of the best pro runner Instagrams out there, and her podcast with Kara Goucher is hilarious. Oh, and she's qualified for four Olympic trials in the marathon, made the team twice, and been alternate once. I love following Des Linden's running career and I hope she has a splendid race today.

 

Emilio de la Torre and English Tomlinson

Aside from runners who display persistence and longevity in the sport, and parents (especially mothers) who are runners, you will always find me cheering for fast teachers, in honour of my twin sister, who teachers seventh grade and somehow has the courage and stamina to train for marathons, too. Hoping Emilio and English have races they're proud of and a movie day planned for Monday.

 

Molly Huddle

I first started listening to running podcasts in late 2019, which is when Huddle--with her co-hosts, Olympians Alysia Montano and Roisin McGettigan, started Keeping Track, a podcast about women's sports. I deeply admire her consistent advocacy for more and better coverage of women's sports and the length and success of her running career. Also, she's the parent of a young child, and lives and trains part-time in my home state of Rhode Island.

Nathan Martin 

The fastest Black marathoner born in the United States and someone who just seems to get better and better at running marathons. Also, he works as a substitute teacher and high school cross country coach, putting him on my list of fast educators to root for.

 

Noah Droddy 

Paradoxically, while I admire athletes like Abdi Abdirahman or Molly Huddle, whose careers demonstrate both longevity and success, the pro runners who I love following most are the ones who persist when things don't go well. Noah Droddy seems to have had pretty large helping of ups and downs in the sport, particularly in terms of injuries and struggles to get sponsorship. I admire the way he keeps going and going for it.

 

Rosa Moriello

The "not all heroes wear capes" award of the Trials should surely go to Rosa Moriello, who has raised over $8,000 for the Orlando Youth Alliance and used her Instagram to educate people about LGTBQ+ issues in Florida during her marathon build.

Stephanie Bruce

One of the challenges for pro runners these days seems to be the extent to which they are expected to balance the work of running with the need to have an A-plus, authentic, genuine, personal (but not too personal) social media presence. One of the many reasons I would not want to be in their line of work! Yesterday, I was reading John Scalzi's excellent reflections on selling out in creative industries, and it strikes me that a lot of what he says about "personal brand" applies to runners, especially those who make podcasts and videos or do a lot on social media. Steph Bruce seems to be a runner with a really solid handle on her personal brand--I mean that as a genuine compliment. Bruce seems to have found a way to do social media that works for her, builds a community, and inspires other people. She also seems, like John Scalzi, to have a really solid grasp on the business side of her profession and those skills, coupled with her incredible persistence, make me root for her.